This is it y'all. The moment you've all been waiting for. Prince Julien is about to make his entrance. 

You guys ready? :D

~~~~~~

Kai was glaring daggers at the fairy as both he and his loyal companion were being led into the castle. He could hear Jay muttering frantically under his breath, and was mentally preparing himself for the moment Cole told him to shut up.

It never came.

The only other words spoken during the time they were being led was the nindroid holding the weapons taunting Kai. "The forest will belong to Prince Julien," the droid had said.

Kai just glared at the nindroid.

Finally, after what seemed like eleven minutes of walking, they entered a large room. Only the nindroids holding the two and the weapons stayed with the group as they walked in, the rest staying outside the door.

The room was gigantic and covered in ice and frost. Kai assumed they were in the throne room as little shelves littered the walls filled with helmets and swords, wands and horns. A large cage rest on the far right of the room. His belief was confirmed when he and Jay were forced onto their knees in front of an enormous throne made of ice.

Sitting in said throne, with his legs crossed as if he were meditating, was Zane. He wore a long and excessive light blue cloak overtop a white unitard with light blue diamonds covering it. His hands were covered by white gloves, also decorated with light blue diamonds. The unitard shone with a silk-like sheen and his cloak looked as though it was made of tiny ice crystals. A silver crown, adorned with tiny ice-blue gems and snowflake patterns, rested atop his head.

"Ah," The Prince said, a very un-Zanelike smirk slowly tugging at his lips. "If it isn't the legendary Sir Kai." He spread out his arms like he was welcoming a hug. "Welcome to my majestic and perfect castle."

"Hey! Watch it!" Jay squeaked as the third nindroid forcefully grabbed Jay's bag from off of him. The nindroid walked to the door and carelessly tossed the bag, sword, and knife on the ground by it.

Kai was about to say something, a snarky comment perhaps, when he heard someone yell, "KAI!"

He looked up and his heart dropped when he saw Nya-- his sister-- the princess being held in a cage that was suspended mid air. "NYA!" he screamed. "Let the princess go," he demanded, turning to look at Prince Julien.

The Prince just tsked at him. "Oh dear, I'm afraid I cannot do that, young Kai, he responded. He then turned his gaze towards Jay. "Ah, you brought me an elf too. Excellent work, Cole."

Cole just bowed his head as a sign of respect, not daring to look The Prince in the eye.

Zane sighed happily. "Oh, I do so love when people bow before me." His gaze returned towards his prisoners, cold and sharp. "BOW BEFORE THE MIGHTY, AND FABULOUSLY MAGNIFICENT, PRINCE JULIEN!" he bellowed.

"No!" Kai protested, but the nindroids behind the two forced their heads down into a bow. "Ow ow ow ow!" Kai mumbled, wincing at the painful amount of force they used.

Prince Julien sighed happily again. He then clapped his hands and Kai and Jay were dragged towards the back of the room. The nindroids harshly let them go, then walked over by the empty cage.

"Now, Cole, come forward," The Prince commanded. Kai noticed that Cole raised an eyebrow as he did so and that Jay tilted his head. So, he thought. Zane is pulling some improvisation.

"I did what you asked of me," Cole started, bowing before The Prince, "now can you please release the fairies and spare my land?"

The Prince stood up and began walking towards the shorter being, looking him up and down a few times as he did so. He then burst out into heinous laughter. Jay and Kai looked at each other in alarm. Prince Julien slung an arm around Cole's shoulders and began leading him to the opposite end of the room. "Oh, you fairies really are so trusting," he drawled.

"Wh—What?"

Zane spun the fairy around once they were in the middle of the room and gripped his shoulders tightly. "You already failed to protect this forest once," he smirked, "why should I give it back to you?"

"B—But you promised!" cried Cole, attempting to pry the cold hands off of his shoulders, now nervous. "I brought them to you!"
"That you did, fairy," The Prince said smoothly, removing one hand to pat the fairy's head, but putting it back just as quickly. "You proved to be useful, but, you are just a fairy after all." With that final statement, he shoved Cole backwards and two of the nindroid guards caught him, forcing his hands in front of him and slipping smooth silver handcuffs over his wrists.

"Put him in the cage where he belongs," Zane ordered, slowly making his way back towards his throne and sitting back down. "I'm in the mood for some... music."

Kai and Jay watched as the fairy get dragged towards the cage then quite literally get thrown into it. As one nindroid locked the cage and the other began pulling the lever to get it next to Nya's, Jay leaned over to the knight and whispered, "Told you they'd make him sing."

"Ugh—ah!" Cole grunted as he struggled to get out of the handcuffs. "Let me go!"

The Prince narrowed his eyes and pulled out a remote control. "I command that you sing to me or I will be forced to use this," he said coldly. Cole just glared down at the ruler, who sighed. "Oh well, I gave you a chance." He pressed a button on the remote control and held it down.

Both Kai and Jay winced, anticipating the fairy to start screaming and writhing in pain, but instead, he fell to his knees laughing. "Stop—stop!" he squealed between laughs. "Nonono this isn't fair!"

"I will stop when you sing for me," The Prince replied firmly.

Cole just shook his head as he hooted and hollered, his body falling over so he was laying on the ground.

This went on for a few minutes and Kai could tell that Cole was losing his breath. It may just be laughing, but that could still be deadly. "STOP IT!" he eventually cried out. "YOU'RE STILL HURTING HIM!"

The Prince's cold gaze snapped towards Kai as he slowly eased his finger off of the button. Cole's laughter died down and he was now panting in the cage. "Watch your tongue, Sir Kai. I may be extraordinary, but my patience has its limits."

Kai glared back at The Prince. "I don't understand," he said honestly. "Why are you doing this?! Why do you hate the inhabitants of this forest so much?!"

Prince Julien's eyes narrowed and Kai began to wonder if he had maybe overstepped. But then The Prince smirked. "You wish to know why I'm doing this?" he asked, arrogantly flicking the end of his cloak. "Very well then, I shall tell you my motive. Be honored that I choose to indulge in your question."

Prince Julien straightened in his seat before he began. "Ever since I was a child, I had always been underestimated." At this The Prince's eyebrows narrowed. "I was smart, strong, exceptionally handsome, I didn't understand why no one noticed how amazing I was."

"One day... I suppose you could say I snapped. After years of being ignored and disregarded, I followed a bird."

"... you followed a bird?" Kai asked, trying so hard not to smile. "Why?"

"Because it danced!" The Prince snapped. He then took a breath and composed himself. "The bird danced, and it brought me here, to this magical tree. The bird seemed to understand me, and after that, everything seemed to understand me. All the living things seemed to understand me and obey me. They treated me like their kind. Even the trees seemed to bend to my will. Everything listened to me... except the creatures." Prince Julien spat out, pointedly glaring at the poor elf and sad fairy in the cage.

As Zane spoke, Kai made eye contact with Jay and tilted his head in the direction of their weapons and Jay's bag. Jay raised and eyebrow and tilted his head in that direction as well. Kai gave one single nod and Jay blinked twice. He pursed his lips at The Prince's comment about creatures then slowly began inching in the direction of their items.

"None of these worthless beings would give me the respect that I deserved!" The Prince continued. "I was forced to threaten them and to bribe them. With the help of my animal friends, I slowly began to conquer everything!"

No one seemed to notice that Jay was getting close to the weapons. The Prince was too absorbed in the story and the nindroids were too nonalive to notice.

"And now, all I need to do is marry Princess Nya and I will be a king!" A wide grin began to overtake his face. "For years, my Birchwoods Kingdom has been underestimated, but now, we shall rule the world!"

Jay was there—he carefully cut the rope from around his wrists, eyeing the evil dictator.

"Uh yeah, I seriously doubt that," Kai snorted, trying to distract Zane as Jay began to slowly return to Kai, his knife in his hand.

"Pfft, you cannot defeat me, Sir Kai! I am too handsome and powerful to be defeated!" The Prince retorted.

"We'll see about that!" Kai argued, flickering his eyes back and forth in Jay's direction, hoping he would get the message he was trying to send him. Thankfully, he and Jay had such a random form of communicating that the elf understood exactly what he was trying to say.

"SILENCE PEASANT!" The Prince screamed, standing up in his seat. "Face it, it's over, Sir Kai."

"Uh, yeah, I don't think so!" Kai smirked. As Zane had been screaming, Jay had slid the knife across the floor to Kai who had cut the rope around his wrists. He jumped to his feet and The Prince's eyebrows narrowed and he began to walk towards him.

"Stupid elf!" he cried, grabbing a nearby sword as he stalked closer. "I shall have you executed for that!"

"KAI! CATCH!" Jay screeched, tossing Kai's sword at him.

Kai jumped into a flip and caught the sword, landing on his feet and smirking at the flabbergasted prince. "I'm not going down without a fight!" Kai said, winking.

Prince Zane growled and brandished his sword. "Very well then, Sir Kai. Let us battle. En garde!"

Kai gasped and raised his sword to block The Prince's sudden lunge. The swords clinked as they made contact. Kai took a swipe at The Prince, only for him to twirl out of the way and lunge again. "Prepare to be destroyed!" The Prince taunted, smirking.

"You can't destroy Kai!" Nya screamed from above. "He's too powerful!" Kai couldn't help but smile at the comment.

"Silence, you ignorant woman!"

For several minutes, the knight and The Prince engaged in an elegant yet deadly dance, their weapons singing through the air. Kai was impressed. While they had all trained with swords and katanas, the knight was always considered out of the group to be the one most efficient with the sword. Yet Zane was matching him blow for blow. For a majority of this quest, Kai had actually held back on his ability, but now he found himself going almost all out.

As Kai dueled Zane, Jay dealt with the three nindroids left in the room, taking them out with a few jabs at their 'wiring systems'. The nindroids, since they were dead, ran away from the scene, much like Skales, Darreth, and the assassin. The elf's grin was wide and he dusted his hands off, proud of his accomplishment.

The two opponents dueled on, until Kai suddenly found himself being disarmed by a well-timed blow to his hand. Prince Zane cackled as he raised his sword to deliver the final blow... only for Jay to suddenly jump into the fray and parry the strike with his dagger, allowing Kai enough time to pick up his sword. "Thanks Jay!" he shouted.

"You're welcome Sir Kai!" Jay chirped, turning his head to give Kai a smile.

This, however, proved to be a mistake, for The Prince suddenly lunged and grabbed the distracted elf by the collar of his shirt. "This fight is between me and the knight, elf," he spat. "So do me a favor and begone!"

Jay didn't even get time to yelp before Prince Zane threw him to the side. There was a sickening thump as Jay's head hit the wall of the throne room and the elf slid to the floor groaning, barely conscious.

The Prince's eyes widened. "Oh dear!" he exclaimed, sounding genuinely concerned. "I did not mean to throw him that hard!"

Kai wasn't sure whether to laugh or be angry over the fact that Jay got hurt, but then he caught Jay giving him a weak thumbs-up, making him quietly sigh in relief. Then, his expression turned furious and he charged angrily at Prince Zane.

"This is for Jay!" he shrieked, slashing sword at Zane.

The Prince gasped and barely managed to dodge the swipe. The tip of Kai's sword caught the edge of The Prince's cloak and actually ripped it off.

Prince Zane gasped as he watched his cloak flutter to the ground. "That was my favorite cloak!" he exclaimed, getting right back into character and glaring at Kai. "You will pay for ruining it, you worthless knight!"

With that, the fight resumed, though now the two opponents were even more desperate to win. They got sloppy and their swords started making contact with each other. Even with his armor, Kai winced at the force of each blow, mentally groaning at all of the bruises that he would have after today.

The duel finally ended when Kai, after dodging yet another blow, accidentally tripped over Prince Zane's discarded cloak. The knight fell onto his back, grunting as he hit the floor. He tried to stand back up, but a foot planted itself onto his chest. When he tried to reach for his sword, which he had let go of when he fell, Zane's other foot kicked his weapon away before resting gently but firmly on Kai's hand.

"End of the line, Sir Kai," The Prince chuckled evilly. "And to think: you thought that you stood a chance at defeating me. You cannot defeat me, Sir Kai! I am too handsome and powerful to be defeated! Pity, I thought you would have learned that by now," he cackled, pressing the tip of his sword close to Kai's throat. "Any last words, knight?"

Kai tried to come up with something witty to say, but could come up with, "Y—You'll never get away with this."

The Prince sighed. "Oh, Sir Kai," he said, smirking. "I already have."

Before the tale came to a tragic end for the hero, a beam of light suddenly shone directly in The Prince's eyes, blinding him and causing him to shout and stumble off of the knight. Out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw that Jay had a mirror in his hands and was reflecting the light into The Prince's eyes.

Making a mental note to thank his elf friend later, Kai shot up to his feet and lunged towards The Prince. He wrenched Zane's sword from out of his hand and, with a final battle cry, stuck down The Prince.

Prince Julien gasped, staring at the sword stabbing him in the 'chest'. "Im-Impossible," he said weakly, falling to his knees while grabbing at the sword's hilt. "I—I'm too h-handsome... and awesome to be... defeated..."

"You know what Prince Julien," Kai said, kneeling down in front of his opponent. "You may be handsome on the outside... but you've got one heck of an ugly heart."

The Prince growled only to be cut off by a series of coughs that shook his entire body. Kai backed up as Prince Julien fell forwards, his leg twitching a few times before finally stilling.

It was over. The Prince was dead. Kai grinned grimly at the body before snatching a set of keys off of The Prince's belt.

Jay jumped to his feet and began cheering. "WOOHOO! I TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO IT SIR KAI! YOU'VE SAVED THE FOREST! YOU'VE SAVED US!"

Kai couldn't help it: he tossed his sword to the ground and ran to hug Jay. "We did it, elf! I couldn't have defeated him without your stupid bag!"

Once the two broke apart, Kai's attention went straight to Nya. "Come on," he smiled. "Let's let them down." The elf and the knight walked over to the levers that connected to the cages so they could lower them. Kai began to pull on the one connected to the cage Nya was in while Jay pulled on the one Cole was in. Once the cages were on the ground, Kai unlocked both of them.

That minute of Kai's life felt like it was in slow motion. "KAI!" the princess shouted happily, bursting out of the cage and running towards him.

"NYA!" he yelled back, opening his arms wide for a hug. She leapt into his arms and he picked her up and spun her around. "I'm so happy you're safe, Princess," he sighed happily, setting her down and bowing.

Nya giggled. "I told The Prince not to underestimate you and Jay. Pity, he always felt like he was underestimated, and there he goes underestimating the bravest knight of them all."

"Uhh, Cole," Jay said hesitantly, interrupting the moment. "You wanna come out?" Up until that point, the fairy had been sitting in the back on the cage, his head down.

He looked up shyly and replied, "Are you sure you want to free me? I betrayed you guys."

"Hey," whispered Kai, cautiously walking into the cage near Cole. "The Prince lied to you. He hurt you. You could've made better decisions but it wasn't entirely your fault. He took advantage of you." As he said all of this, he played with the keys until the found the key that unlocked the handcuffs around the fairy's wrists.

"Thank you," the fairy muttered, still not quite making eye contact with his savior. "I appreciate your bravery and all you have done for my—our—forest."

The knight helped him up and led him out of the cage, once out, Jay hugged him tightly... because what else would Jay do? "Now you can become our friend for real this time!" he squealed. "We'll have so much fun! I can introduce you to my elf friends and I can meet your fairy friends!"

Cole grimaced and half-heartedly hugged Jay back. "Yay, can't wait," he replied sarcastically.

"There he is!" Kai smiled, wrapping an arm around the shoulders of both his travel companions. "Our sarcastic, miserable, annoyed fairy is back!"

The group burst into laughter at the comment, though the laughter was cut short when The Prince suddenly sat up and began approaching them. "How are you still alive?!" Kai shrieked, getting into a fighting position, Jay, Cole, and Nya not far behind him. "I killed you!"

The Prince threw his hands into the air. "It is not 'The Prince' anymore!" he cried out, a slight panic on his face. "It is me, Zane!" The group all sighed and relaxed as Zane approached them.

"Congratulations on succeeding in your quest, Sir Kai," he smiled. "Now, it is time for your reward."

----

Ahhh, that was fun to write. :D

If you're wondering about why Cole was laughing instead of screaming in pain, Zane would feel too bad if they actually hurt Cole, so the handcuffs around his wrists are tickling our poor fairy boy. XD

Next chapter is the last one! Hope to see ya there! :D